Grasim Industries Limited, a textile company of the Aditya Birla Group, signed a shareholders’ agreement with ReNew Green Energy Solutions and ReNew Surya Uday to procure renewable energy from its solar-wind hybrid open access power project as a captive consumer. It has also signed a power purchase agreement with ReNew Surya Uday.

The company has announced that it would invest ₹153.1 million (~$2.06 million) for a 26% stake in ReNew Green Energy Solutions to procure power from its solar-wind hybrid open access project.

ReNew Green Energy Solutions would invest ₹435.8 million (~$5.87 million) to develop the 17.6 MW solar-wind hybrid project in Gujarat for captive consumption by Grasim through the open access mechanism.

ReNew Green Energy Solutions is a subsidiary of Renew Power, an independent renewable power producer.

Last month, Mahindra & Mahindra signed a power purchase agreement with ReNew Sunlight Energy, a subsidiary of ReNew Green Energy Solutions, to procure solar power from its open access project as a captive consumer. As per the agreement, the company acquired 31.2% equity shares for ₹160.7 million (~$2.15 million) through the subscription of 16.07 million shares valued at ₹10 (~$0.13).

According to Mercom India Research’s India Open Access Solar Market Update Q1 2021, open access solar installations in India totaled 419 MW in the first quarter (Q1) of 2021, while the cumulative solar installations in the open access market have reached 4.3 GW as of March 2021. The pipeline of projects under development and in the pre-construction phase under open access is estimated to be over 1 GW.

Commercial and industrial units for whom energy constitutes around 65% to 70% of operating expenditure, are moving towards procuring power from open access solar projects. Factors such as commitment to 100% clean energy goals by large corporates and meeting renewable purchase obligations are pushing for power procurement through short-term open access. Multinational companies (MNCs) with the strategy to go green are choosing the group captive model.

Mercom recently hosted a webinar to examine the policy framework and consumer feedback on the open access solar market in India. The speakers were in consensus that uniform regulations across states, long-term policies without retrospective changes, and charges are necessary for the open access market.